Shifting seat for vehicles



.(NicuModeL) J ..L. MASON;

SHIFTING SEAT FOR VEHICLES.

PTO-1398.419. Patented Feb. 26, 1889.

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JOHN L. MASON, OF DAVENPORT, IOlVA.

SHIFTING SEAT FOR VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 398,419, dated February26, 1889.

Application filed October 1, 1888.

To a whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN L. MASON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Davenport, in the county of Scott and State of Iowa, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Shifting Seats for Vehicles, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of vehicles having two or more seats,and my object is to arrange the seat so it may be temporarily movedforward while occupied to allow additional space between it and the nextrear seat to accommodate persons getting into such seat, and thereaftermoved back to its normal position. I'attain these objects by themechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 isa side perspective view of atwoseated surrey carriage-body, its panelbroken awayunder the front seat. Fig. 2 is a front view of one of theseat-carriers and its sill-sockets. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional viewof the seatframe and seat-carriers. Fig. 1 is a detail view of onemethod of attaching the seat-carrier to the under side of the seat. Fig.5 is a vertical sectional view of the seat-frame and seat-carrierattached to the under side of the seat by the method illustrated in Fig.4, and Fig. 6 is a detail. view of one method of attaching a stop tothe'longitudinal bars connecting the posts of the seat-frame as supportsfor the seat-carriers to rest against.

Similar letters and figures refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views.

A represents the side panels of a surrey carriage-body; B, itslongitudinal sills; 0, its seats, and c the backs of such seats. 1, 2,3, and 4 represent seat-posts framed to the sills. 5 and 6 arelongitudinal bars framed to the top of said posts, and 7 and 8 arecross-bars attached to said posts. Seat (1 has its sup port upon saidframe.

The seat-carrier is preferably made of steel, although other materialmay be used; and it consists of two vertical rods, 9 and 10, the bottomof each bent in the form of an elbow extending in a direction crosswiseof the vehicle-body, such parts screw-threaded, as at 12 and 13, and thetops of such rods connected by the horizontal cross-rod 14. Iprefer tomake the seat-carrier of one piece of Serial No. 286,936. (No model.)

taching the same to sills I or the body of the carriage. Suchscrew-threads may be omitted in said sill-sockets and on said seat-canrier, and the parts 12 and 13 seated in said perforations and securedtherein by being headed or by other well-known means understood by anyskilled mechanic.

Two seat-carriers are attached crosswise to the vehicle-body by hingingtheir parts 12 and 13 in sill-sockets 15 and attaching the latter tosaid sills B, and cross-rods 11 of each carrier are secured or hinged totwo longitudinal parallel bars, each consisting of two parts, the upper,16, and lower, 17, each having halfround grooves to accommodate andhinge cross-rod 14. Bars 16 and 17 are preferably constructed of wood,secured together by screws or bolts. The under side of seat 0 is rigidlyattached on the upper surface of bar 16 by means of screws or bolts.Openings or slots 18 are cut through cross-bars 7 and 8 to accommodatethe ends of bars 16 when moved forward or backward, and such slots alsoform supports for said bars and thereby said. sea-t.

If desired, I can dispense with bars 1 3 and 17 and use staples 19 tohinge horizontal crossrod 14 to the under side of seat 0, securing saidstaple thereto by screws or bolts. ll prefer, however, thefirst-described mode of hinging, as it avoids the noise and rattle whichusually take place when one piece of iron is hinged in another piece ofiron. I prefer to attach a cross-beam, 20, preferably of wood, crosswiseand near the center of the seatframe, to the under side of bars 5 and 6.Such cross-beam adds strength to the seat-frame, and its upper surfacefurnishes support to bar 17 thus supporting seat C, while its sides actas stops for vertical rods 9 and lO of the seat-carrier when swungforward or backward, I can, however, dispense with such cross-beam andattach to the under side of bars 5 and 6 a double elbow, 21.,whichlikewise will form a stop for said rods 9 and 10 of the seat-carrier.So, too, I can dispense with said cross-beam 20 and said stop 21. \Vhenthe seat-carriers are moved forward or backward, it will be observedthat by reason of the horizontal crossrod of each being hinged to theunder side of the seat, and the lower vertical rods of each also beinghinged crosswise to the longitudinal sills, both of said seat-carriersmove together and parallel, and when the under side of the seat restsupon the top of the seatframe such frame supports the seat and acts as astop, preventing the seatcarriers swinging fart-her in that direction.This is illustrated in Fig. 5. The under side of the seat C rests uponthe seat-frame and is in its normal position; but by swinging theseat-carrier forward it and seat C will occupy the position indicated bythe dotted lines in said Fig. 5, and said seat will in that position besupported by said seat-frame, and which also act-s as a stop bypreventing the seat-carrier from swinging farther forward.

I can dispense with sill-sockets l5 and with the screw-threaded parts ofthe seat-carrier. In such case the elbowed parts at 12 and 13 are plainrounded surfaces, and may be inserted in suitable crosswise perforationsin longitudinal sills B; but such perforations tend to weaken the sills,and when such sills are constructed of wood the perforations will becomeenlarged by use, tending to make the seat-carrier unsteady; hence Iprefer the use of sill-sockets. A device for accomplishing the sameobject, substantially, could be 0011- structed by dispensing with thehorizontal cr0ss-rod 14; and the tops of rods 9 and 10,. hinged to theunder side of seat 0; but such construction would be objectionable,because such a seat-carrier would be unsteady. One of the chieffunctions of said horizontal crossrod is to keep the vertical rodssteady and firm; hence such horizontal cross-rod is a material part ofthe structure.

I am aware that what are commonly known as jump-seats or removable seats-that is, seats which are folded or laid down upon the floor of thecarriage-body when not in useare constructed by hinging the under sideof the seat to the top of four posts, the bottom of each of which postsis hinged to the longitudinal sills or the floor of the carriagebody,and which posts, carrying the seat, may be freely swung'in one directionto remove or displace the seat, while suitable stops are provided toarrest their swinging too far in the opposite direction and to retainsuch posts and seat in position for occupancy. The objects attained insuch seats are entirely different from the objects I obtain by mydevice. andstops constitute the seat frame and support for the seat. Inmy device the stationary frame constitutes the fixed support for the Insuch construction the hinged posts seat, while the hinged vertical rods,connected at their upper ends by the horizontal crossrod, constitute themeans for sliding or shiftin g the seat from one position of support onthe stationary seat-frame to another position -of support thereon, andonly furnish support to the seat when it elevates it above the frame inmoving it from one position to the other. In my device such shiftingmovement of the seat can be obtained through mo-' tion of the body ofthe person occupying it without arising therefrom.

In the construction of carriage-bodies intended for two or more seats,both for strength and symmetry, the body is shortened as much as can beand accommodates the seats with room for occupancy. In such constructionthe hind wheel is necessarily so far forward that a person, especially alady, in gettin into the rear seat is apt to soil her dress from dirtupon the wheel. So, too, for ease and comfort, the backs of the seat areusually high and incline rearward, as shown in Fig. 1, and this rendersit difficult for a person to enter the carriage-body to occupy the rearseat. I seek to obviate these objectionable features by my improvements,and when my device is used the carriage-step for mounting to the rearseat may be set well forward of the rear wheel upon the carriage-body.

In my construction lamp-irons for holding lamps may be rigidly attachedto each side of the shifting seat; but I prefer to attach these irons tothe sides of the vehicle-body and have same also act as supports for thetop standards where a top or cover is used.

I am aware that some vehicle-bodies are constructed with a cut-under orwheel-house, and in such case my device may be used by modifying theparts, all of which can be accomplished bya skilled mechanic without doparting from the scope of my invention.

Many modifications and changes in the form of my device'can be madewithout departing from the scope of my inventionas, for instance, theside panels underneath the sliding seat may be split longitudinally andthe upper portion rigidly attached to such sliding seat, so as to movewith it, while the lower portion remains stationary.

lVhatI claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. Ina vehicle-body provided with two or more seats for constant use, thecombination of the permanent seat-frame with the hinged seat-carriersand seat hinged thereto, for the purpose of temporarily increasing thedistance between adj accnt seats by shifting such seat from oneposit-ion of support upon said frame to another position of supportthereon, substantially as described.

2. In avehicle-body, a seat hinged upon its under side to two parallelcross bars, the ends of said cross-bars bent downward, each terminatingin elbows crosswise to said vehicle-body and hinged thereto, inconnection with a permanent seat-frame attached to saidbody and arrangedto support said seat when such horizontal bars are swung forward orbackward, so the point of hinging with said seat is not in the samevertical line with the point of hinging said elbows to the body of saidvehicle, substantially as described.

3. In a vehicle-body, the combination, with a permanent seatframeattached thereto, of a seat hinged to seat-carriers, such carriershinged in si1l-sockets having threaded apertures to receive the threadedends of the carriers for the purpose of swinging the seat from oneposition of support upon the frame to another position of supportthereon, substantially as described.

4. The herein-described seat-carrier, consisting of two horizontal andparallel crossbars, their ends bent downward, each end terminating inelbows of similar direction of extension as said horizontal cross-bars,hinged to the body of a Vehicle, with a seat hinged upon the twohorizontal and parallel crossbars, substantially as described.

5. The herein-described seat-carrier, con sisting of two horizontal andparallel crossbars, their ends bent downward, each end terminating inscrew-threaded elbows of similar direction of extension as saidhorizontal cross-bars, each hinged in the threaded aperture of asill-socket, with a seat hinged upon the two horizontal and parallelcross-bars, substantially as described.

6. In a vehicle shifting seat, two L'shaped rods, their tops connectedby a horizontal cross-rod, their bottoms hinged to opposite sides of theVehicle-body to permit the crossrod to swing over forward and backward,arranged in pairs at suitable distances apart, and a seat hinged at asimilar distance to each of said horizontal cross-rods, substantially asdescribed.

JOHN L. MASON. Witnesses:

W. C. WARRINER, F. A. CROUCH.

